With Parliament having passed the lokpal Bill, our vote this time should be on the demand for a speedy establishment of an effective ombudsman and the supporting infrastructure. Else, the Bill will remain on paper
Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Corruption and hypocrisy ought not be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.”
Measures to curb corruption and thereby ensure probity and integrity in public life, which had rightly agitated the common man and was at the centre-stage of national consciousness two years ago, has taken a back seat once again. lokpal, though it cannot be a cure for all ills, captured the national aspiration as a significant step forward to deal with corruption at the highest levels of Government and political machinery. Anna Hazare’s fast at Ramlila ground in New Delhi had forced Parliament to burn the midnight oil and evolve a commitment acceptable to Mr Hazare.
The malady of corruption and scam at the Government-level has only seeped deeper. Blame-game on partisan lines is a common refrain. Alas, this time around, it is not only the political inconsistency which will bear the entire burden of it, but the blame is to be equally shared by civil society outfits and other pressure groups making claims to being the fifth pillar for legitimacy to the aspirations of normal citizenry.
The lokpal, modelled on the lines of ombudsman institutions in the Scandinavian countries, was proposed back in 1966 by the First Administrative Reforms Commission. The first Jan lokpal Bill was proposed by Mr Shanti Bhushan in 1968 and passed in the fourth lok Sabha in 1969, but it did not pass through the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, lokpal Bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008; yet they were never passed. Fifty five years after its first introduction, the lokpal Bill has been finally enacted in India. Mr Hazare fought to get this Bill passed and it did pass in lok Sabha on December 27, 2011, with some modifications. The proposed Bill was further strengthened by the Government, and then it was accepted by the Rajya Sabha and then by the lower House. On December 29, 2011, the Bill had been deferred to the next Parliament session amid much controversy and disruption by the lJP, the RJD and the SP. The media at large and common belief was that the situation had been staged with some degree of participation of all the political parties.
The institution of lokpal along with a strong Chief Vigilance Commission will be a wide spectrum pill for many ills of governance. The recent debate on the autonomy of the Central Bureau of Investigation is just one example which could reach meaningful resolution through the adoption of the empowered lokpal Act.
The CBI works under three major constraints. First, the CBI has been constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. It functions as a department of the Union Government under the Ministry of Personnel that is part of the PMO. Second, there is a bar under Section 6A, inserted by the CVC Act, 2003, from commencing even a preliminary inquiry or an investigation except with the previous approval of the Union Government in case of officials at the level of Joint Secretary and above and those appointed by the Union Government in the PSUs. Third, its officers are wholly subservient and dependent on the political executive for their career prospects, including transfers and promotions.
The affidavit by the CBI before the Supreme Court has pleaded for very wide financial and administrative powers almost making it free from any accountability under the executive. However, it is conceded that complete autonomy to an investigative agency without any in-built or overarching checks can seriously damage the institutional integrity and may prove to be bane rather than a boon in the long term as has been to some extent illustrated in the handling of cases like the Irshat Jahan encounter case and the ‘Coalgate’ scam. It has resulted in generating institutional tensions and also to some extent a mechanical interpretation of the law.
Given the complexity of the multi-faceted, uncharted repercussions that this autonomy issue of the CBI had, an effective lokpal could provide a possible mechanism which, while insulating the CBI from political interference, can regulate the CBI against becoming a power onto itself.
The adoption of the lokpal Bill actually has the ability to once again create that pressure on the right quarters for breaking the spell of governance deficit on public welfare-oriented legislations especially at the national level. With the lokpal Bill having been passed, our vote this time should be on the demand over seeking probity in public life and speedy establishment of the lokpal.
(The author is former Chairman, TRAI and director, Public Interest Foundation. The article is co-authored by Tannu Singh)